Tax Day: Should wealthy pay more?

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, speaks during a news conference April 12 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, speaks during a news conference April 12 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Alex Wong / Getty Images)

Today is the deadline for Americans to file their income taxes. In the budget proposal he submitted last week, President Obama called for increasing taxes by $560 billion over the next decade. He proposed a series of steps that would increase payments to the IRS from wealthy Americans, including a minimum tax for millionaires, limits on tax deductions for the wealthy, a cap on the balance in tax-sheltered retirement accounts, and the end to a provision used by hedge fund managers to reduce their tax bills. But Republicans in Congress rejected any more tax hikes, pointing out that they agreed to more than $600 billion in tax hikes in the deal that averted the fiscal cliff. Would the president’s proposals make the tax code fairer? Would they help or hurt the economy? What’s the best way to reduce the deficit: tax hikes, spending cuts, or a balance of the two? Talk about it!